The final vote was a lot closer: 220 to 215. Which seems like a mid-20th century vote total. It really is quite remarkable that, in 2009, in the United States, there's still widespread debate and disagreement over the proposition that health care should not be rationed on the basis of ability to pay.
I wonder why the plaintiff is not suing some obvious companies. Cisco would be an obvious candidate -- and they have deep pockets. But all of the current defendants don't actually make Ethernet equipment. They buy Ethernet chipsets from companies like Intel, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, VIA, and NVIDIA, among many others. Why isn't the plaintiff suing them?
The article notes that the House of Representatives took at least 5 years to replace the applications on its 12 year old mainframe. The costs (i.e. taxpayer funds) to perform this migration work were not disclosed, but it's a pretty safe assumption those costs dwarfed any others. Moreover, the article seems to suggest that it took at least 20 other servers to replace a single 12 year old mainframe, and that's even using virtualization on the new servers. One wonders how many (more) servers the House could have replaced with a single new mainframe.
But here's a more profound question: why is the House of Representatives running its own, separate data centers (primary and disaster)? Couldn't they at least consolidate with, oh I don't know, the Senate?!?! And, a related question: for all those 12 years, why didn't the House simply move its comparatively tiny mainframe workload to a bigger mainframe anywhere else in the federal government? (Yes, they can do that without also delegating any security control. Mainframes do that.) Quite simply, it sounds like the House was, and is, wasting a lot of taxpayer money. (Shocking, I know.)
If battery engineers can actually increase energy storage densities to allow 500 mile range electric vehicles, there will be something of a stampede among car buyers, yes. However, one key remaining factor will be the range achievable with about a 15 minute quick charge (i.e. a stop for a Slurpie). If that range is, say, about 200 miles (40% of maximum), and assuming the economics otherwise work (i.e. battery costs and durability), we may finally see the end of the internal combustion engine in widespread automotive use.
Yes, Microsoft needs staff for its stores. But Microsoft's whole "me too" retail strategy is about trying to disrupt and interfere with Apple's business model. That's the reason why Microsoft is trying to place their stores in close proximity to Apple's, for example. And if Microsoft can increase Apple's retail staffing costs, Microsoft would consider it money well spent. In short, Microsoft is all about trying to drag down Apple, not building up Microsoft.
Honestly, there really aren't that many unsolved problems in computing if you are sufficiently aware enough to include mainframes and mainframe operating disciplines in your consideration. The basic way the mainframe community solved this particular problem long ago was to, first, take a holistic view about mitigating data loss. Double concurrent spindle failures are just one possible risk element. What about, for example, an entire data center exploding in a spectacular fireball? (Or whatever.) IBM, for example, came up with several different flavors of GDPS and continues to refine them, and they include multiple approaches to data storage tiering across geographies, depending on what you're trying to achieve. Data loss, whether physical or otherwise (such as security breaches), is not a particular problem with this class of technology and associated IT discipline, nor does there seem to be any signs of a growing problem in this particular technology class.
Why not make one screen E Ink and the other more conventional color (LED-backlit, TFT)? If you want the long battery life and don't care about color at a particular time, keep the color display powered off. Otherwise, if there's an illustration or photo that you want to see in color, drag/swipe the picture/page over to the color display and spend some battery juice. Bonus points if the entire color display is simply a snap-on accessory that you don't have to buy and don't have to carry everywhere.
The law was put in place primarily as an incumbent protection scheme, to prevent those pesky opposition candidates from unnecessarily agitating those pesky voters. Many forms of overt political expression are banned or curtailed. Even billboard advertising, for example, is highly restricted. The law worked: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan for about 99% of the post-war period. However, on August 30th, the LDP is looking especially past its sell-by date, so it could well be a historic change election.
"Desk Set," with Hepburn and Tracy. I suspect it's no different in 2009: trained reference experts answer the questions, and Google is just their new stack of reference books. Somewhere Hepburn and Tracy are smiling.
Nobody knows exactly how much data the average human brain can hold, but one estimate is 500 to 1000 TB. If the average adult human brain weighs about 1.3 or 1.4 Kilos, then "about 2 Kilos" would hold 1 Petabyte.
In many or most countries, coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation. Coal is chock full of mercury (and other nasty stuff besides). Use more electricity, as with this Philips bulb compared to CFLs, and there's more mercury released into the environment.
No, I think you have it exactly backwards, or at least you're missing an important nuance. It's really, really expensive to duplicate everything across two (or more) data centers. And it's full scope increase in IT costs: most or all cost categories increase. We're talking more than double the costs, in round numbers. Beyond the cost, it's very hard technically to recover hundreds or thousands of servers simultaneously or even near-simultaneously, because you are typically trying to recover not hundreds or thousands of atomistic, independent servers but all the moment-in-time state and functional dependencies among servers. Very, very difficult, which also means hugely expensive and prone to error. Unfortunately, service interruptions are also extremely expensive. What to do?
You could just buy a pair of mainframes, one at site one and the other (configured with reserve capacity, which is lower cost) at site two. (More only if you need the capacity. Then they just operate like a single machine.) That all works really, really well. As in, credit card holders would have no clue that site #1 just burned to the ground -- the credit cards still keep working. That particular form of consolidation makes disaster recovery a relative breeze. DR is just thoroughly baked into the DNA of such equipment, and the very computing model itself supports rapid recovery. (Down to zero interruption effectively and zero data loss, if that's what you need. Or, in DR lingo, RPO and RTO of zero.)
The critical nuance here is if you only consolidate sites, which a lot of businesses have done, you're reducing business resiliency, ceteris paribus. Yes indeed, if you merely forklift your hundreds or thousands of servers into a smaller number of data centers and do basically nothing to consolidate applications, databases, operating system images, etc., onto better DR-protected assets, then disaster recovery will be much tougher and much more expensive. Site-wide disasters will be more disastrous. The game-changer (otherwise known as re-learning time-tested lessons:-)) is if you untangle the mess and do real consolidation onto a much smaller number of robust, well-protected servers with some decent DR investments and realistic rehearsals. That'd be mainframes and mainframe IT discipline, basically, or at least something that resembles mainframes (if such a thing exists).
Control instead of CapsLock? And just when most people have gotten used to the current placement.:-) Then does CapsLock get demoted to Fn-(Right)Shift?
Wireless Internet service is available in Mount Pleasant, Michigan -- at least in certain areas. CMS Internet offers wireless starting at $29.95 per month. WMS Wireless is another possible option, but their price is higher. Another company called ISP Management offers wireless Internet as well, but their rates are not published online.
I think the correct metaphor for organizing a large number of (Web) pages is a book. A book can have hundreds or even thousands of pages, referenced by page number at least. The pages can be organized into sections, chapters, and subsections, all of which are listed in a hierarchical table of contents. The pages can also be indexed according to key words and topics. And there's a level of abstraction above a book if needed: a bookshelf. In terms of user interface design, all of these bookish elements have been implemented pretty well in other contexts. Coverflow-style page flipping would probably be one navigation option, for example.
Why are Ubuntu and other Linux desktop distributions trying to work on *every* PC? It's a mess! (It is for Windows, too. It's just somewhat hidden because of the death grip between arbitrary PC vendors and the preloaded Microsoft software.) I think Ubuntu needs to take a step back here. How about if Ubuntu simply follows Apple's lead, designing and selling their own PCs? Sell Ubuntu primarily as a vertically integrated, preloaded machine stack, along with a selection of optional certified compatible peripherals available for purchase. If people also want Windows, then let them use VMware, VirtualBox, etc. (Just like Apple again.) Yes, provide the Ubuntu software for download, too -- that's basically a GPL requirement anyway -- but concentrate on at least getting Ubuntu 100% correct on Ubuntu-branded hardware. Or, in a slight variation, Ubuntu could sell Ubuntu-branded PCs based on a periodically revised "Ubuntu Reference Platform." That way other manufacturers could build URP machines if they wish, or perhaps in different physical form factors. Most likely every URP component would be dual sourced, to prevent any monopolistic tendencies among component suppliers.
So AT&T now respects the need for court orders before they cut off service. Good to hear. It sure would have been nice if the company stood up for the rule of law when the Bush Administration decided it didn't need a court order to wiretap.
Yeah, I did forget we were talking about the Z-series here. I do know that they use the Power architecture and no, I am no an expert.
No, they don't use Power architecture. They use z/Architecture. System z machines are not POWER machines, and the CPUs are quite different, with different instruction sets. IBM's POWER-based servers can run AIX while System z cannot. System z can run z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, and z/VM operating systems while POWER-based servers cannot.
I believe that System Z comes with on-site support...
Actually, every IBM mainframe has "Call Home" built in. (And almost everybody keeps it turned on.) The machine automatically rings up IBM if any service part is required, and IBM rings back (to a human) to schedule a convenient service time (for the humans -- the machine keeps chugging while the repair takes place, particularly on the System z10 EC but also almost always on the System z10 BC). Repairs are seldom needed, though. Every few decades on average. This Call Home functionality is entirely within the hardware and requires nothing whatsoever from the operating system.
But in my recollection, when you run Linux on a mainframe you actually run it on special processor modules based on IBM Power chips...
No, you run it on System z processors which are based on... System z processors. You might be confusing an IFL (Integrated Facility for Linux) with a CP (general purpose processor). On an IBM mainframe you can run Linux on either type of processor, but they are the same hardware. The IFL simply has special microcode loaded which disables one instruction (that Linux doesn't need but other operating systems do), so it only runs Linux (and z/VM, the hypervisor). But IFLs are certainly not POWER processors.
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The final vote was a lot closer: 220 to 215. Which seems like a mid-20th century vote total. It really is quite remarkable that, in 2009, in the United States, there's still widespread debate and disagreement over the proposition that health care should not be rationed on the basis of ability to pay.
I wonder why the plaintiff is not suing some obvious companies. Cisco would be an obvious candidate -- and they have deep pockets. But all of the current defendants don't actually make Ethernet equipment. They buy Ethernet chipsets from companies like Intel, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, VIA, and NVIDIA, among many others. Why isn't the plaintiff suing them?
The article notes that the House of Representatives took at least 5 years to replace the applications on its 12 year old mainframe. The costs (i.e. taxpayer funds) to perform this migration work were not disclosed, but it's a pretty safe assumption those costs dwarfed any others. Moreover, the article seems to suggest that it took at least 20 other servers to replace a single 12 year old mainframe, and that's even using virtualization on the new servers. One wonders how many (more) servers the House could have replaced with a single new mainframe.
But here's a more profound question: why is the House of Representatives running its own, separate data centers (primary and disaster)? Couldn't they at least consolidate with, oh I don't know, the Senate?!?! And, a related question: for all those 12 years, why didn't the House simply move its comparatively tiny mainframe workload to a bigger mainframe anywhere else in the federal government? (Yes, they can do that without also delegating any security control. Mainframes do that.) Quite simply, it sounds like the House was, and is, wasting a lot of taxpayer money. (Shocking, I know.)
If battery engineers can actually increase energy storage densities to allow 500 mile range electric vehicles, there will be something of a stampede among car buyers, yes. However, one key remaining factor will be the range achievable with about a 15 minute quick charge (i.e. a stop for a Slurpie). If that range is, say, about 200 miles (40% of maximum), and assuming the economics otherwise work (i.e. battery costs and durability), we may finally see the end of the internal combustion engine in widespread automotive use.
Yes, Microsoft needs staff for its stores. But Microsoft's whole "me too" retail strategy is about trying to disrupt and interfere with Apple's business model. That's the reason why Microsoft is trying to place their stores in close proximity to Apple's, for example. And if Microsoft can increase Apple's retail staffing costs, Microsoft would consider it money well spent. In short, Microsoft is all about trying to drag down Apple, not building up Microsoft.
Honestly, there really aren't that many unsolved problems in computing if you are sufficiently aware enough to include mainframes and mainframe operating disciplines in your consideration. The basic way the mainframe community solved this particular problem long ago was to, first, take a holistic view about mitigating data loss. Double concurrent spindle failures are just one possible risk element. What about, for example, an entire data center exploding in a spectacular fireball? (Or whatever.) IBM, for example, came up with several different flavors of GDPS and continues to refine them, and they include multiple approaches to data storage tiering across geographies, depending on what you're trying to achieve. Data loss, whether physical or otherwise (such as security breaches), is not a particular problem with this class of technology and associated IT discipline, nor does there seem to be any signs of a growing problem in this particular technology class.
Why not make one screen E Ink and the other more conventional color (LED-backlit, TFT)? If you want the long battery life and don't care about color at a particular time, keep the color display powered off. Otherwise, if there's an illustration or photo that you want to see in color, drag/swipe the picture/page over to the color display and spend some battery juice. Bonus points if the entire color display is simply a snap-on accessory that you don't have to buy and don't have to carry everywhere.
It could be leprechauns.
The law was put in place primarily as an incumbent protection scheme, to prevent those pesky opposition candidates from unnecessarily agitating those pesky voters. Many forms of overt political expression are banned or curtailed. Even billboard advertising, for example, is highly restricted. The law worked: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan for about 99% of the post-war period. However, on August 30th, the LDP is looking especially past its sell-by date, so it could well be a historic change election.
Rape a 13 year old girl and that's no problem. Downloading three Roman Polanski films could mean two years in prison.
"Desk Set," with Hepburn and Tracy. I suspect it's no different in 2009: trained reference experts answer the questions, and Google is just their new stack of reference books. Somewhere Hepburn and Tracy are smiling.
Nobody knows exactly how much data the average human brain can hold, but one estimate is 500 to 1000 TB. If the average adult human brain weighs about 1.3 or 1.4 Kilos, then "about 2 Kilos" would hold 1 Petabyte.
In many or most countries, coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation. Coal is chock full of mercury (and other nasty stuff besides). Use more electricity, as with this Philips bulb compared to CFLs, and there's more mercury released into the environment.
No, I think you have it exactly backwards, or at least you're missing an important nuance. It's really, really expensive to duplicate everything across two (or more) data centers. And it's full scope increase in IT costs: most or all cost categories increase. We're talking more than double the costs, in round numbers. Beyond the cost, it's very hard technically to recover hundreds or thousands of servers simultaneously or even near-simultaneously, because you are typically trying to recover not hundreds or thousands of atomistic, independent servers but all the moment-in-time state and functional dependencies among servers. Very, very difficult, which also means hugely expensive and prone to error. Unfortunately, service interruptions are also extremely expensive. What to do?
You could just buy a pair of mainframes, one at site one and the other (configured with reserve capacity, which is lower cost) at site two. (More only if you need the capacity. Then they just operate like a single machine.) That all works really, really well. As in, credit card holders would have no clue that site #1 just burned to the ground -- the credit cards still keep working. That particular form of consolidation makes disaster recovery a relative breeze. DR is just thoroughly baked into the DNA of such equipment, and the very computing model itself supports rapid recovery. (Down to zero interruption effectively and zero data loss, if that's what you need. Or, in DR lingo, RPO and RTO of zero.)
The critical nuance here is if you only consolidate sites, which a lot of businesses have done, you're reducing business resiliency, ceteris paribus. Yes indeed, if you merely forklift your hundreds or thousands of servers into a smaller number of data centers and do basically nothing to consolidate applications, databases, operating system images, etc., onto better DR-protected assets, then disaster recovery will be much tougher and much more expensive. Site-wide disasters will be more disastrous. The game-changer (otherwise known as re-learning time-tested lessons :-)) is if you untangle the mess and do real consolidation onto a much smaller number of robust, well-protected servers with some decent DR investments and realistic rehearsals. That'd be mainframes and mainframe IT discipline, basically, or at least something that resembles mainframes (if such a thing exists).
Why not buy Windows 7 Home Basic from an "emerging market"? At emerging market prices, of course. Or possibly Windows 7 Starter.
Control instead of CapsLock? And just when most people have gotten used to the current placement. :-) Then does CapsLock get demoted to Fn-(Right)Shift?
Facebook uses PHP, and yes you can, on both z/OS and Linux. Probably on z/TPF, too. And Facebook wouldn't be the first Internet company to buy a mainframe.
Wireless Internet service is available in Mount Pleasant, Michigan -- at least in certain areas. CMS Internet offers wireless starting at $29.95 per month. WMS Wireless is another possible option, but their price is higher. Another company called ISP Management offers wireless Internet as well, but their rates are not published online.
I think the correct metaphor for organizing a large number of (Web) pages is a book. A book can have hundreds or even thousands of pages, referenced by page number at least. The pages can be organized into sections, chapters, and subsections, all of which are listed in a hierarchical table of contents. The pages can also be indexed according to key words and topics. And there's a level of abstraction above a book if needed: a bookshelf. In terms of user interface design, all of these bookish elements have been implemented pretty well in other contexts. Coverflow-style page flipping would probably be one navigation option, for example.
Why are Ubuntu and other Linux desktop distributions trying to work on *every* PC? It's a mess! (It is for Windows, too. It's just somewhat hidden because of the death grip between arbitrary PC vendors and the preloaded Microsoft software.) I think Ubuntu needs to take a step back here. How about if Ubuntu simply follows Apple's lead, designing and selling their own PCs? Sell Ubuntu primarily as a vertically integrated, preloaded machine stack, along with a selection of optional certified compatible peripherals available for purchase. If people also want Windows, then let them use VMware, VirtualBox, etc. (Just like Apple again.) Yes, provide the Ubuntu software for download, too -- that's basically a GPL requirement anyway -- but concentrate on at least getting Ubuntu 100% correct on Ubuntu-branded hardware. Or, in a slight variation, Ubuntu could sell Ubuntu-branded PCs based on a periodically revised "Ubuntu Reference Platform." That way other manufacturers could build URP machines if they wish, or perhaps in different physical form factors. Most likely every URP component would be dual sourced, to prevent any monopolistic tendencies among component suppliers.
So AT&T now respects the need for court orders before they cut off service. Good to hear. It sure would have been nice if the company stood up for the rule of law when the Bush Administration decided it didn't need a court order to wiretap.
Yeah, I did forget we were talking about the Z-series here. I do know that they use the Power architecture and no, I am no an expert.
No, they don't use Power architecture. They use z/Architecture. System z machines are not POWER machines, and the CPUs are quite different, with different instruction sets. IBM's POWER-based servers can run AIX while System z cannot. System z can run z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, and z/VM operating systems while POWER-based servers cannot.
I believe that System Z comes with on-site support...
Actually, every IBM mainframe has "Call Home" built in. (And almost everybody keeps it turned on.) The machine automatically rings up IBM if any service part is required, and IBM rings back (to a human) to schedule a convenient service time (for the humans -- the machine keeps chugging while the repair takes place, particularly on the System z10 EC but also almost always on the System z10 BC). Repairs are seldom needed, though. Every few decades on average. This Call Home functionality is entirely within the hardware and requires nothing whatsoever from the operating system.
But in my recollection, when you run Linux on a mainframe you actually run it on special processor modules based on IBM Power chips ...
No, you run it on System z processors which are based on... System z processors. You might be confusing an IFL (Integrated Facility for Linux) with a CP (general purpose processor). On an IBM mainframe you can run Linux on either type of processor, but they are the same hardware. The IFL simply has special microcode loaded which disables one instruction (that Linux doesn't need but other operating systems do), so it only runs Linux (and z/VM, the hypervisor). But IFLs are certainly not POWER processors.
So what? "Dumb" terminals have had plenty of intelligence for decades. You do know people did CAD/CAM on them, right?